The Next Generation Jazz Orchestra Combo performances at MJF66 on the Courtyard Stage will comprise of selected members of the 2023 Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. Artists will be announced from the stage.
Monterey Jazz Festival brings together 20 of the most accomplished high school jazz musicians from across the country to form the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra (NGJO), directed by GRAMMY-nominated pianist and composer Gerald Clayton. Established in 1971, tenure in this year's NGJO culminates in a main stage performance in September at the Monterey Jazz Festival with the 2023 Artist-in-Residence, Lakecia Benjamin.
Having received worldwide acclaim, tour performances for the Orchestra have included festivals and venues in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Europe. Former members include pianists Benny Green, Patrice Rushen, Pascal Le Boeuf, Emmet Cohen, and Kris Bowers, bassist Larry Grenadier, drummers Carlos Vega, Chad Wackerman, Marcus Gilmore, and Justin Brown; saxophonists Joshua Redman, Donny McCaslin, Mark Turner, Eric Marienthal,Ted Nash, Eddie Barbash, Chad LB, Remy Le Boeuf, and Dave Koz; trombonists Luis Bonilla and Andy Martin, flutist Elena Ayodele Pinderhughes, trumpeters Gilbert Castellanos, Ambrose Akinmusire, John Daversa, and Adam O'Farrill; composer Jeff Beal, and big band leader Gordon Goodwin, and many others.
